Saturday September 4th 2021:
Lounging in the leather green chairs of the Slytherin common room— to Dominic astonishment — Albus was whirling his wand in majestic circles above his head, his eyes preoccupied with his Standard Book of Spell, Grade 5. Whereas the nerd Scorpius did not have a book or wand in sight, but instead a broom he was polishing.
"Hey, you blokes. Did you see this?" A Slytherin asked, tapping at the noticeboard.
"What?" Dominic asked, giving up on deciphering Albus and Scorpius' odd role reversals.
Dominic and a handful of other Slytherins silently read a certain note pinned up on the noticeboard in tandem.
STRESS OF EXAMS, O.W.L.S OR N.E.W.T.S GETTING YOU DOWN?
Come and see Rose Granger-Weasley of Gryffindor house in the Charms classroom on the third floor
Friday: 7:00pm-10:00pm
Saturday: 11:00am-5:00pm
Sunday: 11:00am-5:00pm
"Rose Granger-Weasley is no longer being arrogant and is instead using her brain to tutor others, Albus is studying hard and Scorpius isn't. I'm not so sure what's real anymore," Dominic stated, loud enough for Scorpius and Albus to hear. His laugh was not in a mocking manner, so they didn't take it as an insult.
"Aren't you going to study?" Albus asked Scorpius.
"Not right now," Scorpius replied, gripping the tail of his broom. "I'm going to practise my flying. And you're coming with me."
"Now? I need to learn this spell. It's been plaguing me for a while now," Albus said.
"Since when did you study?" Scorpius laughed.
"I need to boost up my Charms for a less average mark for our O.W.L.s," Albus said.
"Which one are you trying?"
"The Mending Charm."
"The Mending Charm? That's a simple one."
"Maybe for you," Albus said under his breath. "Every time I tried it, people would just tease me while hovering over me."
Scorpius stood up and balanced against his broom, examining Albus.
"Reparo."
The torn blank piece of parchment (that was deliberately ripped for testing), slowly pieced back together.
"You did it! See? It's not that difficult! Now come on!" Scorpius said all of this so rapidly and pulled Albus up by his shirt.
"Where are we going?"
"To the Quidditch pitch. I'm going to just fly around for a bit. Bring yours -- let's go!"
"You know I'm not good at flying," Albus said.
"You seemed to do well on Sky Glider."
"That was different. I didn't have to control him."
"I know you can do it. Come on," Scorpius said, retrieving Albus' broom himself and passing it to him.
Albus just barely caught his broom from his surprise. With Scorpius already having his broom on stand-by, it was clear that he was planning this.
Four years Albus had known Scorpius, and he was still incapable of saying no to him.
XXX
The sky facing down on the pitch that evening was indistinguishable from the bewitched ceiling Albus had back home: starry, dark blue, with grey whiffs of cloud occasionally drifting by. It was a gratifying atmosphere to fly with. It was certainly not a warm night though, because chills travelled throughout his body.
"Little chilly tonight," Scorpius pointed out.
"Tell me something I don't alr—" Out of nowhere, something warm sheathed Albus' shivering shoulders, and the source turned out to be Scorpius' cashmere sweater. "What is this for?"
"You were cold," Scorpius said.
"I'm pretty sure you do that with a girl," Albus said. "Besides, now you will be cold."
"I'll be okay. Once I'm moving about in the air -- really gets the sweat pumping," Scorpius said.
Albus could have continued to convince Scorpius that he did not need the sweater, but he could not deny that he enjoyed the warmth around him, so he didn't bother.
"So, why did you want me to come?" Albus asked.
Scorpius shrugged. "I just wanted the company, and I thought that you would think it was fun."
"Let's find out," Albus said, smirking and ascending his broom.
They kicked off the ground together, feeling the chilly evening breeze as it whisked past their faces.
Albus was unsure if it was because of his own poor skills on a broom, or if it was because of Scorpius' newer model, but Scorpius was flying way ahead of him; expertly barrel-rolling, nose diving, and maintaining his balance. Balance was something Bert Macmillan advised Scorpius to improve on to make it on the Quidditch team, and it's clear that all of Scorpius' practising was paying off.
Scorpius would often perform a barrel-roll around Albus, and they would both laugh. Even more so when Scorpius would perform over exaggerated poses on his broom.
The only difference Albus prefered was to soar further past the Quidditch pitch. On Sky Glider he was able to fly over trees and the lake, and he wanted to convince Scorpius for them to do that now. He hastily fought against his temptation however, because the last thing he wanted was to suffer through another year's worth of detention. Their flying at that moment was not as spectacular as riding on a majestic creature with wings, but it was no less rejuvenating.
When their flying came to an end, Albus took delight in noticing the sweat drenched in Scorpius' pale hair and skin that he ordinarily had when finished with Quidditch practise.